39 The Lord said, “Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Tell it, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: I am against you, Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and lead you. I will bring you from the far north and have you attack the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand and make you drop the arrows in your right hand. 4 You will die on the mountains of Israel with your troops and the armies that are with you. I will let you become food for every bird of prey and for every wild animal. 5 You will die in the open field because I said so, declares Adonay Yahweh. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live safely on the coasts. Then they will know that I am Yahweh. 7 I will make my holy name known among my people Israel, and I will never let them dishonor my holy name again. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel.
8 “‘It’s coming! It will happen! declares Adonay Yahweh. This is the day I have spoken about. 9 Those living in the cities of Israel will go out. They will set fire to weapons and burn them. They will burn small and large shields, bows and arrows, and war clubs and spears. They will burn them for seven years. 10 They will not need to get wood from the field or cut down trees in the woods. They will make fires with the weapons. They will loot those who looted them, and they will grab things back from those who grabbed their things, declares Adonay Yahweh.
11 “‘When that day comes, I will give Gog a burial place in Israel. It will be in Travelers Valley, east of the Dead Sea. It will block those who travel through the valley. Gog and his whole army will be buried there. So it will be called the valley of Gog’s troops. 12 The people of Israel will be burying them there for seven months to make the land clean.[a] 13 All the common people will be burying them. The people of Israel will be honored on the day of my victory, declares Adonay Yahweh.
14 “‘People will be chosen to go through the land and make it clean. With the help of others they will bury the dead soldiers that are still on the ground. At the end of seven months they will begin their search. 15 Whenever they go through the land and see a human bone, they will set up a marker beside it until the grave diggers have buried that bone in the valley of Gog’s troops. 16 (A city named Hamonah[b] will also be there.) In this way they will cleanse the land.’
17 “Son of man, this is what Adonay Yahweh says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild animal, ‘Assemble, and come together from all around for the sacrifice that I’m preparing for you. It will be a huge feast on the mountains of Israel. You can eat meat and drink blood there. 18 You can eat the meat of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. All of them will be killed like rams, lambs, goats, bulls and all the best animals of Bashan. 19 You can eat the best meat until you are full and drink blood until you are drunk at the sacrifice that I am preparing for you. 20 At my table you will be filled with horses and riders, warriors, and soldiers of every kind, declares Adonay Yahweh.’
21 “I will show my greatness among the nations. All the nations will see how I will turn my power against them to punish them. 22 From that day on, the people of Israel will know that I am Yahweh their Elohim. 23 Then the nations will know that the people of Israel went into captivity because they did wrong and rebelled against me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies. They were killed in battle. 24 I paid them back for their uncleanness and their sins, and I hid my face from them.
25 “So this is what Adonay Yahweh says: Now I will bring back Jacob’s captives and have compassion for the whole nation of Israel. I will stand up for my holy name. 26 When they live safely in a land where no one will frighten them, they will forget their shame and all the unfaithful things they have done against me. 27 I will bring them back from the other nations and gather them from the countries of their enemies. Many nations will see that I am holy. 28 Then my people will know that I am Yahweh their Elohim. I sent them into captivity among the nations, and I brought them back again to their land. I left none of them behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, because I will pour out my Ruach on the nation of Israel, declares Adonay Yahweh.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 39:12 “Clean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is presentable to God.
- Ezekiel 39:16 There is a play on words here between Hebrew hamon (troops) and Hamonah.